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Biomedical subjects

H Widner

Publications and source records attributed to H Widner.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Core assessment program for surgical interventional therapies in Parkinson's disease (CAPSIT-PD).

In 1992 the Core Assessment Program for Intracerebral Transplantations (CAPIT) was published providing the minimal requirements for a common patient evaluation protocol. Despite the intent, the program was thought to be too laborious to carry out in large scale trials, and it also lacked evaluations of cognitive functions and quality of life. Moreover, the CAPIT was designed for neural transplantation only and has not been revised since. Since then, pallidotomy and deep brain stimulation have emerged as additional treatment modalities but there exists no common tool for evaluation of, and between, the techniques. In 1996, within the framework of NECTAR (Network for European CNS Transplantation and Restoration), a dedicated program entitled "Neurosurgical Interventions in Parkinson's Disease" (NIPD) was funded by the European Union Biomed 2 program to develop a new Core Assessment Program for Surgical Interventional Therapies in PD (CAPSIT-PD) and to establish an European registry for patients with PD subjected to functional neurosurgery. This article presents the recommendations of this new program.

Clinical Protocols↗
PubMed1999

Human natural antibodies cytotoxic to pig embryonic brain cells recognize novel non-Galalpha1,3Gal-based xenoantigens.

Transplantation of porcine embryonic brain cells, including dopaminergic neurons, from ventral mesencephalon (VM) is considered a potential treatment for patients with Parkinson's disease. In the present study, we characterized the distribution among VM cells of the major porcine endothelial xenoantigen, the Galalpha1,3Gal epitope, and evaluated the cytotoxic effect of anti-Galalpha1,3Gal antibody-depleted and nondepleted human AB serum on VM cells. Overall levels of Galalpha1,3Gal-epitope expression was very low on the VM cell population using Bandeiraea simplicifolia IB(4) lectin staining of resuspended VM cells in flow cytometric analyses or staining of SDS-PAGE-separated, solubilized VM cell membrane proteins in Western blot analyses. Lectin-histochemical staining of sections of pig embryonal VM regions with BSA IB(4) lectin showed staining restricted to endothelial cells and microglia. In the presence of complement, both nondepleted and anti-Galalpha1,3Gal antibody-depleted AB sera were shown to be cytotoxic to VM cells as assessed in microcytotoxicity- and flow cytometry-based cytotoxicity assays. Purified IgM and IgG were both cytotoxic in the presence of complement. Three major VM cell membrane antigens of approximately 210, 105, and 50 kDa were reactive with natural IgM antibodies present in pooled human AB sera. Thus, antibody-dependent cytotoxicity may contribute to pig to human brain cell xenorejection, necessitating donor tissue modifications prior to a more widespread utilization of neural tissue xenografting.

ABO Blood-Group System↗
PubMed1999

Dopamine release from nigral transplants visualized in vivo in a Parkinson's patient.

Synaptic dopamine release from embryonic nigral transplants has been monitored in the striatum of a patient with Parkinson's disease using [11C]-raclopride positron emission tomography to measure dopamine D2 receptor occupancy by the endogenous transmitter. In this patient, who had received a transplant in the right putamen 10 years earlier, grafts had restored both basal and drug-induced dopamine release to normal levels. This was associated with sustained, marked clinical benefit and normalized levels of dopamine storage in the grafted putamen. Despite an ongoing disease process, grafted neurons can thus continue for a decade to store and release dopamine and give rise to substantial symptomatic relief.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Caspase inhibition reduces apoptosis and increases survival of nigral transplants.

Transplantation of embryonic nigral tissue ameliorates functional deficiencies in Parkinson disease. The main practical constraints of neural grafting are the shortage of human donor tissue and the poor survival of dopaminergic neurons grafted into patients, which is estimated at 5-10% (refs. 3,4). The required amount of human tissue could be considerably reduced if the neuronal survival was augmented. Studies in rats indicate that most implanted embryonic neurons die within 1 week of transplantation, and that most of this cell death is apoptotic. Modified peptides, such as acetyl-tyrosinyl-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-chloro-methylketone (Ac-YVAD-cmk), that specifically inhibit proteases of the caspase family effectively block apoptosis in a plethora of experimental paradigms, such as growth factor withdrawal, excitotoxicity, axotomy, cerebral ischemia and brain trauma. Here we examined the effects of caspase inhibition by Ac-YVAD-cmk on cell death immediately after donor tissue preparation and on long-term graft survival. Treatment of the embryonic nigral cell suspension with Ac-YVAD-cmk mitigated DNA fragmentation and reduced apoptosis in transplants. It also increased survival of dopaminergic neurons grafted to hemiparkinsonian rats, and thereby substantially improved functional recovery.

Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones↗
PubMed1999

Differential effects of Bcl-2 overexpression on fibre outgrowth and survival of embryonic dopaminergic neurons in intracerebral transplants.

The causes of death of transplanted neurons are not known in detail, but apoptotic mechanisms involving caspase activation are likely to play a role. We examined whether overexpression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 may enhance the survival of dopaminergic [tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive] grafted neurons. For this purpose, we prepared cells from embryonic day 13 ventral mesencephalon (VM) of mice overexpressing human Bcl-2, or from their wild-type littermates. The bcl-2 transgene was strongly expressed in these cells, and resulted in protection of neuronal cultures from death triggered by serum deprivation or exposure to staurosporine. To model pretransplantation stress more closely in vitro, we stored dissociated embryonic mesencephalic cells for 8 h in the same type of medium used for intracerebral transplantation. This resulted in massive cell death as quantified by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, and increased DNA fragmentation. Although this cell loss was strongly reduced by a caspase inhibitor, Bcl-2 had no significant protective effect. Finally, mesencephalic cell suspensions were xenografted into the striatum of immunosuppressed hemiparkinsonian rats. Neither the survival of TH-immunopositive transplanted neurons nor the functional recovery of the rats was improved by Bcl-2, although the Bcl-2 protein was strongly expressed in transgenic grafts 5 weeks after implantation, and dopaminergic fibre outgrowth from the grafts was significantly improved. These data suggest that cell death in neuronal transplants involves apoptotic mechanisms that can bypass negative regulation by Bcl-2.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Sequential bilateral transplantation in Parkinson's disease: effects of the second graft.

Five parkinsonian patients who had received implants of human embryonic mesencephalic tissue unilaterally in the striatum 10-56 months earlier were grafted with tissue from four to eight donors into the putamen (four patients) or the putamen plus the caudate nucleus (one patient) on the other side, and were followed for 18-24 months. After 12-18 months, PET showed a mean 85% increase in 6-L-[18F]fluorodopa uptake in the putamen with the second graft, whereas there was no significant further change in the previously transplanted putamen. Two patients exhibited marked additional improvements after their second graft: 'on-off' fluctuations virtually disappeared, movement speed increased, and L-dopa could be withdrawn in one patient and reduced by 70% in the other. The improvement in one patient was moderate. Two patients with atypical features, who responded poorly to the first graft, worsened following the second transplantation. These findings indicate that sequential transplantation in patients does not compromise the survival and function of either the first or the second graft. Moreover, putamen grafts that restore fluorodopa uptake to normal levels can give improvements of major therapeutic value.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The case for neural tissue transplantation as a treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Neural tissue grafting can be highly effective and constitutes a potentially curative approach for progressive neurodegenerative disorders such as PD. Virtually all signs and symptoms of PD have been shown to improve after grafting but not necessarily simultaneously in one patient. Several technical aspects require improvement before widespread use of neural tissue implants can be recommended. These include better definition of donor tissue in terms of infectious risks, the need and duration of immunosuppressive treatment, and the minimal amount of tissue needed for definite benefit. Somatotropism within the basal ganglia system (with specific targeted grafts) aimed at relieving certain symptoms need to be elucidated experimentally. Interaction with the underlying disease process is also important to consider, and the role of intracerebral grafts in differing patterns of parkinsonism needs to be addressed. Grafting is potentially a very powerful therapeutic approach that may evolve to be the ideal treatment for patients with young-onset disease who, when starting to experience fluctuations, may have a life expectancy of 25 years with the disease. For these patients, grafting is likely to be both effective and long-lasting. For these patients, it is likely to become an efficient and also economically sound treatment for the patients and society. Provided that the transplantation procedure is performed judiciously and with strict adherence to basic principles defined from animal and human experimentation, more patients are likely to benefit from the procedure.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Quinolinic acid-induced inflammation in the striatum does not impair the survival of neural allografts in the rat.

It has been suggested that inflammation related to intracerebral transplantation surgery can affect the survival of intrastriatal neural allografts. To test this hypothesis, we transplanted dissociated embryonic mesencephalic tissue from one of two rat strains, Lewis (allogeneic grafts) or Sprague-Dawley (syngeneic grafts), to the striatum of Sprague-Dawley rats. The target striatum was either intact or had received a local injection of quinolinic acid 9 days earlier, in order to induce a marked inflammation. At 6 or 12 weeks after transplantation, there was no significant difference between the different groups regarding the number of surviving grafted tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive neurons. However, the graft volume of both the syngeneic and allogeneic implants was significantly larger in the quinolinate-lesioned than in the intact striatum. There were dramatically increased levels of expression of major histocompatibility complex class I and II antigens, marked infiltrates of macrophages, activated microglia and astrocytes, and accumulation of large numbers of CD4 and CD8 positive T-lymphocytes in the quinolinate-lesioned striatum. In contrast, these immunological markers were much less abundant around both syngeneic and allogeneic grafts placed in intact striatum. We conclude that severe inflammation caused by quinolinic acid does not lead to rejection of intrastriatal neural allografts.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Short- and long-term survival and function of unilateral intrastriatal dopaminergic grafts in Parkinson's disease.

Six patients with Parkinson's disease were followed for 10 to 72 months after human embryonic mesencephalic tissue from four to seven donors was grafted unilaterally into the putamen (4 patients) or putamen plus caudate (2 patients). After 8 to 12 months, positron emission tomography showed a 68% increase of 6-L-[18F]-fluorodopa uptake in the grafted putamen, no change in the grafted caudate, and minor decreases in nongrafted striatal regions. There was therapeutically valuable improvement in 4 patients, but only modest changes in the other 2, both of whom developed atypical features. Patient 4 was without L-dopa from 32 months and had normal fluorodopa uptake in the grafted putamen at 72 months. Overall, the L-dopa dose was reduced by a mean of 10 and 20%, "off" time was reduced by 34 and 44%, and the "off" phase Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor score by 18 and 26%, and the duration of the response to a single L-dopa dose increased by 45 and 58% during the first and second years after surgery, respectively. Rigidity and hypokinesia improved bilaterally, but mainly contralateral to the implant. No consistent changes in dyskinesias were observed. We conclude that transplantation of embryonic mesencephalic tissue leads to highly reproducible survival of dopaminergic neurons, inducing clinically valuable improvements in most recipients.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Rat intrastriatal neural allografts challenged with skin allografts at different time points.

The present study was designed to address two questions. First, can an intrastriatal neural allograft exhibit long-term survival (18 weeks) if the host is immunized by an orthotopic skin graft 6 weeks after neural transplantation (the 6w-Long group)? Second, can an intrastriatal neural allograft survive when the host is challenged by an orthotopic skin allograft either simultaneously (Sim) with the intracerebral graft surgery or 2 (2w) weeks later? Dissociated embryonic ventral mesencephalic tissue from Lewis rats was stereotaxically injected into the striatum of Sprague-Dawley rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions. Six weeks after neural grafting, no reduction in amphetamine-induced motor asymmetry was observed in the Sim and 2w groups. At 6 weeks after skin grafting, the mean motor asymmetry scores had returned to the initial pretransplantation levels in the 6w-Long group. All the neural allografts in the Sim group were completely rejected, and the mean number of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity neurons in the grafts was significantly reduced in the 2w and the 6w-Long group, when compared to the no-skin control group. There were very high levels of expression of MHC class I and II antigens, marked cellular infiltrates containing macrophages and T-lymphocytes, and several activated microglia and astrocytes in and around the surviving intracerebral transplants in the 2w and the 6w-Long groups. The results suggest that intrastriatal neural allografts are more likely to be rejected rapidly if the host is efficiently immunized with the same alloantigens simultaneously or soon after the neural transplantation than at a later time point. When established neural allografts are subjected to a strong immunological challenge, they undergo protracted rejection.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1997

Addition of allogeneic spleen cells causes rejection of intrastriatal embryonic mesencephalic allografts in the rat.

To address the importance of antigen-presenting cells for the survival of intracerebral neural allografts, allogeneic spleen cells were added to the graft tissue before transplantation. Dissociated embryonic, dopamine-rich mesencephalic and adult spleen tissues were prepared from either inbred Lewis or Sprague-Dawley rats. A mixture of neural and spleen cells was sterotaxically transplanted into the right striatum of adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Controls were neural allografts without addition of allogeneic spleen cells and syngeneic neural grafts with or without the addition of syngeneic spleen cells. Six weeks after transplantation, brain sections were processed immunocytochemically for tyrosine hydroxylase, specific for grafted dopamine neurons, and a bank of markers for various components in the immune and inflammatory responses. The neural allografts which were mixed with allogeneic spleen cells were rejected. In these rats, there were high levels of expression of major histocompatibility complex class I and II antigens, intense cellular infiltration including macrophages and activated microglial cells, and a presence of cluster of differentiation 4- and 8-immunoreactive cells in the graft sites. Moreover, there were increased levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 in and around the grafts which were undergoing rejection. In contrast, syngeneic neural grafts survived well regardless of whether they were mixed with syngeneic spleen cells or not, and control neural allografts also exhibited unimpaired survival. No significant difference was observed in the number of grafted dopamine neurons among these three latter groups. The levels of expression of the different markers for inflammation and rejection were generally lower in these grafts than in implants of combined allogeneic neural and spleen cells. In summary, intrastriatal neural allografts, which normally survive well in our animal model, were rejected if allogeneic spleen cells from the same donor were added to the graft tissue. The added spleen cells caused strong host immune and inflammatory responses. The study gave support to the notion that immunological privilege of the brain does not provide absolute protection to immunogenetically histoincompatible neural grafts.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Methylprednisolone prevents rejection of intrastriatal grafts of xenogeneic embryonic neural tissue in adult rats.

We studied the effects of high-dose methylprednisolone on the survival of intrastriatal neural xenografts and the host responses against them. Dissociated mesencephalic tissue from inbred mouse (CBA-strain) embryos was transplanted to the intact striatum of adult Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats received either daily injections of methylprednisolone (30 mg/kg), or cyclosporin A (10 mg/kg), or no immunosuppressive treatment. Two or six weeks after transplantation, there was good survival of xenografts in both the methylprednisolone- and cyclosporin A-treated rats. In contrast, the xenografts in untreated control rats were all rejected by six weeks. There was no marked difference in the degree of expression of MHC class I and II antigens and the accumulation of activated astrocytes and microglial cells/macrophages between the three groups. However, both methylprednisolone and cyclosporin A reduced infiltration of T lymphocytes to the transplantation sites. The expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interferon-gamma, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6) in and around the grafts was lower in the methylprednisolone- and cyclosporin A-treated groups than in untreated control rats. Although high-dose methylprednisolone caused significant body weight loss, we conclude that this treatment can prevent rejection of intrastriatal grafts of xenogeneic embryonic neural tissue in the adult.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Antioxidant treatment protects striatal neurons against excitotoxic insults.

It has been suggested that oxidative stress plays an important role in mediating excitotoxic neuronal death. We have therefore investigated the protective effects of antioxidants against excitotoxic injury in the rat on striatal neurons both in vitro and in vivo. In the first part of the study, we determined whether two different types of antioxidants, the spin trapping agent, alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone and an inhibitor of lipid peroxidation, U-83836E, could protect cultured striatal neurons against either hypoglycemic injury or N-methyl-D-aspartate-induced excitotoxicity. Dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein, which is enriched in medium-sized spiny neurons, was chosen as a marker for striatal neurons. alpha-Phenyl-t-butyl nitrone and U-83836E both significantly reduced cell death induced by these insults as indicated by an increased number of surviving dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phospho-protein-positive neurons. The two antioxidants also promoted the survival of cultured striatal neurons grown at low cell density under serum-free culture conditions. In an in vivo experiment systemically administered alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone exerted neuroprotective effects in the rat striatum following injection of the excitotoxin quinolinic acid. Apomorphine-induced rotation tests revealed that alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone-treated animals were significantly less asymmetric in their motor behavior than control rats. Treatment with alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone significantly reduced the size of the quinolinic acid-induced striatal lesions, as assessed by the degree of sparing of dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phospho-protein-positive and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase-positive neurons, and of microtubule-associated protein-2-immunorective areas. Furthermore, lesion-induced morphological changes in the substantia nigra pars reticulate, i.e. loss of dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-positive afferent fibers and atrophic changes due to transsynaptic degeneration, were also less extensive in the alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone-treated animals. The results support the hypothesis that oxygen-free radicals contribute to excitotoxic neuronal injury. The in vivo cytoprotective effects of alpha-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone against striatal excitotoxic lesions suggest that antioxidants could be used as potential neuroprotective agents in Huntington's disease, which has been suggested to involve excitotoxicity.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

DARPP-32-rich zones in grafts of lateral ganglionic eminence govern the extent of functional recovery in skilled paw reaching in an animal model of Huntington's disease.

Grafts of striatal tissue comprise two different types of tissue: regions with (P-zones) and without (NP-zones) neurons that express markers characteristic of the striatum, such as dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein with a mol. wt of 32,000 (DARPP-32). It remains unclear whether P-zones alone play a crucial role in functional effects of striatal grafts in an animal model of Huntington's disease. The present study has been performed to determine: (i) the yield of DARPP-32-positive neurons in grafts of lateral ganglionic eminence; (ii) whether treatment of graft tissue with the spin-trapping agent alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone enhances the survival of implanted DARPP-32-positive neurons; and (iii) the relationship between the number of DARPP-32-positive neurons in the grafts and functional effects of the grafts on paw-reaching ability in rats with unilateral quinolinic acid lesions of the striatum. Dissociated tissue derived from the lateral ganglionic eminence of rat embryos (embryonic day 14), with or without addition of alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone (3 mM), was implanted into the quinolinic acid-lesioned striatum. Compared to unlesioned normal animals, rats with striatal lesions showed substantial impairment in paw-reaching ability, particularly on the side contralateral to the lesion, as judged from the number of pellets retrieved by each paw. Intrastriatal grafts gave rise to a significant improvement in paw-reaching ability. The mean total number of surviving DARPP-32-positive cells in grafts without alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone treatment was estimated at 115 x 10(3), which did not significantly differ from that in alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone-treated grafts. The paw-reaching scores were significantly correlated with the volumes of P-zones and the number of DARPP-32-positive neurons, but with neither the volumes of NP-zones nor the total graft volume. The results suggest that P-zones in striatal grafts mediate graft-derived functional recovery in a complex task such as skilled forelimb use. Although the antioxidant treatment with alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone failed to promote graft survival, the positive correlation between the yield of DARPP-32-positive cells in the graft and the extent of the functional recovery highly warrants further attempts to increase the yield of the striatal component in the graft.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1995

Temporal pattern of host responses against intrastriatal grafts of syngeneic, allogeneic or xenogeneic embryonic neuronal tissue in rats.

The host response to immunologically incompatible intrastriatal neural grafts was studied using immunohistochemical techniques. Dissociated ventral mesencephalic tissue from embryonic donors of either syngeneic, allogeneic or xenogeneic (mouse) origin was stereotaxically implanted into adult rats. The brains were analysed 4 days, 2 weeks or 6 weeks after grafting with antibodies against the following antigenic structures: major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I antigens; MHC class II antigens; complement receptor (CR) 3 (marker for microglia and macrophages); helper T-lymphocyte antigen-cluster of differentiation (CD) 4; cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-CD8; tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) (marker for transplanted dopaminergic neurons). The number of surviving TH-positive cells was not different at the various time points in either the syngeneic or allogeneic groups, whereas the xenogeneic cells were all rejected by 6 weeks. The host reactions were similar in character in the syngeneic and allogeneic groups. At 4 days after implantation, there were increased levels of expression of MHC class I and II antigens. In and around the grafts, there were cellular infiltrates consisting of activated microglia, macrophages, CD4- and CD8-positive lymphocytes. At 6 weeks, MHC expression was reduced and the cellular infiltrates had subsided with only low numbers of activated microglia cells and CD8-positive lymphocytes remaining. In the xenogeneic group, at 4 days, some grafts contained cavities, possibly reflecting acute rejection. At later stages, the xenografts were heavily infiltrated by macrophages, activated microglial cells and T-lymphocytes, and at 6 weeks all the xenografts were rejected. Taken together, the results suggest that there is an inflammation caused by the implantation process which leads to an accumulation of host defence cells. This, in turn, leads to increased MHC expression in and around the grafts. In syngeneic grafts, these reactions are short lasting and weak; for allografts slightly more pronounced and longer lasting than syngeneic grafts, but not sufficient to cause rejection. For xenografts, the reactions are more intense and lead to transplant rejection. Thus, a strong sustained inflammatory response may be an important determinator for the failure of histoincompatible neural grafts. It can be speculated that a short-term anti-inflammatory treatment of graft recipients may be a sufficient immunosuppressive regimen to allow long-term graft survival.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Immune reactions following systemic immunization prior or subsequent to intrastriatal transplantation of allogeneic mesencephalic tissue in adult rats.

We have previously found that dissociated mesencephalic tissue, which differs from the host at both major histocompatibility complex and non-major histocompatibility complex gene loci, can survive stereotaxic transplantation to the striatum of adult rats. We have now studied the outcome of intrastriatal neural allografts in rats that were systemically immunized by an orthotopic skin allograft either prior or subsequent to intracerebral implantation surgery. Dissociated mesencephalic tissue from Lewis rat embryos was stereotaxically injected into the dopamine-depleted striatum of hemi-parkinsonian Sprague-Dawley rats. One group was immunized by an orthotopic allogeneic skin graft of the same genetic origin as the neural graft, six weeks before the neural transplantation (the pre-immunized group). Another group was post-immunized by an orthotopic skin allograft, six weeks after the neural transplantation (the post-immunized group). A control group of rats was not challenged by a skin allograft. Marked behavioural recovery was observed in six of seven rats in the control group, in six of eight rats in the post-immunized group, and in none of the pre-immunized rats. Tyrosine hydroxylase-immunopositive cells were found in rats from the two behaviourally compensated groups, but not in the pre-immunized group. The immune responses were evaluated by OX-18 (monoclonal antibody against major histocompatibility complex class I antigen), OX-6 (major histocompatibility complex class II antigen), OX-42 (microglia and macrophages), glial fibrillary acidic protein (astrocytes), OX-8 (cytotoxic T-lymphocytes) and W3/25 (helper T-lymphocytes) immunocytochemistry. All the neural allografts in the pre-immunized group were rejected, leaving scars only. There were more intense immune responses to the allografts in the post-immunized group than the control group, in terms of immunocytochemically higher expression of major histocompatibility complex class I and II antigens and more intense cellular reactions consisting of macrophages, activated microglia and astrocytes, in addition to CD8- and CD4-positive lymphocytes. In summary, the results show the following: (i) systemic pre-immunization leads to complete rejection of intrastriatal neural allografts, implying that the status of the host immune system before transplantation determines the outcome for intrastriatal neural allografts; (ii) established intrastriatal neural allografts can survive for at least six weeks after systemic immunization, in spite of increased host immune responses in and around the allografts; (iii) there are no marked immune reactions against intrastriatal neural allografts 13 weeks after implantation in rats which have not been systemically immunized by a skin allograft; (iv) pre-immunized rats may provide a very useful animal model to investigate the role of inflammatory lymphokines in immune rejection and to test alternative immunosuppressive drugs.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Overexpressing Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase enhances survival of transplanted neurons in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.

A high survival rate of grafted dopamine neurons is crucial for reversing neurological deficits following brain tissue transplantation in Parkinson's disease. For unknown reasons the survival rate of transplanted dopamine neurons is only around 10% in experimental animals. The hypothesis that oxidative stress causes the loss of transplanted neurons was tested by grafting neurons from transgenic mice that overexpress Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase. Compared with the survival of those taken from non-transgenic littermates, the survival was 4 times higher for the transgenic dopamine neurons with a concomitant more extensive functional recovery. The results provide direct support for the free radical hypothesis of dopaminergic neuron death in brain tissue grafting.

Amphetamines↗